Benches and Conversations
by Ellenarnia
Summary: Series 3 episode 12 AU. The bench scene with Jeffries and Whitewood.
**I've found another idea for a story. Hooray! I was recently re-watching series 3 and thought that the scene in episode 12, when Jeffries was having a conversation with Whitewood at the start of the episode.**

 **Benches and Conversations**

Alex had given her the morning. She had managed to convince him that making sure that Tim, kept quiet was more important than work. She spotted Shannon, who gave her a wave from the grounds.

"Hey Becca," Shannon greeted her as she got out of the car

"Shannon, Tom." She smiled, before turning serious "How is he?"

"We don't know." Tom replied

"He hasn't given anything away to us." Shannon elaborated "That's why I," she stopped as she was elbowed by Tom "That's why _we_ thought that you could help. He trusts you."

"If he won't talk to you, then what do we do?" Tom questioned

"We'll figure something out." Rebecca told them "I'll do as much as I can. Where is he then, his office?"

"He's spends a lot of time sitting on the bench, just round there." Shannon pointed

…

He sat on the bench listening to the sound of his students shouting on the grounds. He should really, have gone and told them off but he had enough on his plate, without students shouting the odds at him. He had found the one spot in the school were nobody seemed to want to bother him. Shannon and Tom, had been following him around the school for the last day trying to find him and ask him questions, that he really didn't have the answer to, at the moment. There was so much they had told him and yet they expected him to be able to process it all and give them an answer to what side he was on.

"Tim." A voice shattered his thoughts and he looked up

"Rebecca? What are you doing here?"

"Shannon called me." She explained "She said you've been having a bit of a tough of late."

"Tough time?" he scoffed "I just found out that I've been teaching a pack of shape changing wolves. Would you call that a tough time?"

"Definitely." She sat down next to him with a sigh "How have you been, apart from that?"

"I'm not really sure." He said quietly "I'm certainly not coping."

"Why didn't you call then?"

"I could hardly think straight, let alone make a phone call." He insisted

"That explains why you've been ignoring my calls then."

"Not ignoring," he made clear "I was far too deep in misery by that point."

"Misery?" she looked confused

"Yes misery." He repeated "I was miserable thinking about the fact that I'd been teaching wolves for several years and I never knew."

"And, what? You blame yourself for this?"

"Maybe. For putting the students in danger."

"Danger?" she asked "They're not dangerous."

"Shape changing wolves, fangs, yellow eyes?" he started "I could go on."

"They aren't dangerous. This is Rhydian and Jana, we're talking about. There's nothing dangerous about them." She tried to defend them "You know them. You've taught them for several years. You know they wouldn't hurt anyone."

"How do I know that? They've been lying for years about what they are. How can they just expect me to trust them!" he shouted

"Keep your voice down." She hissed "They don't want to hurt you, and they're not dangerous either. They can control the wolf."

"What about Tom?" he continued before she could protest "When he came running out of Kafé, his eyes were yellow, like Rhydian and Jana's, explain that to me."

"It's a long story."

"Don't give me that rubbish." He sounded angry

"Alright, alright!" she threw her hands up in annoyance "It's something that Segolia has been working on, well something similar anyway. Shannon, Jana and Tom came to Segolia recently and somehow Tom managed to get hold of some serum that gave him Wolfblood abilities. I'm not sure how or what it was exactly because we didn't develop it, but it was certainly dangerous, whatever it was."

"So he isn't a Wolfblood?"

"No, he isn't. He's 100% human I promise." She confirmed

"If people actually want me to keep their secrets, then they really should trust me." He complained

"Jana and Rhydian trust you. They trust you to keep their secret safe for them." She pointed out "I trust you enough to tell you the truth about Segolia and what we're doing, even though I shouldn't."

"I suppose that's true." He admitted "You were right, as well."

"About what?"

"Werewolves." He explained "I mocked you about it, thought you were stupid and yet you were right."

"Sort of." She said

"You were," he argued "and I was rude, very rude."

"You weren't to know." She told "Nobody believed me, so one more person telling me I was wrong didn't hurt."

"I'm sorry." He apologised

"Doesn't matter now." She dismissed it "What matters is getting everything straight in your head."

"How can I?" he asked "The world has turned on its head and I'm not sure what I can do about it."

"You can keep the secret." She said simply "That's all they need. Rhydian and Jana just need to know that they can trust you with the secret."

"I have no idea who I can trust anymore, let alone give people any assurances about where my trust lies."

"Well, what's worrying you about it?"

"I'm not worried-" He started

"You've got the face, you always have when you're worried." She interrupted him "So, what's troubling you?"

"I don't know." He sounded tired "The safety element, not just of other people. I'm worried about everyone's safety, Rhydian and Jana included."

"You're sounding like you care." she commented with a smile

"I do care," he retaliated "they're my students and so they're my responsibility."

"I know, I know." She laughed

"Not really a laughing matter." He said seriously

"Sorry."

"Everything about this situation scares me." He told her "No, scratch that. It terrifies me."

"You don't need to be scared or terrified." She explained

"I'm more scared about Rhydian and Jana's safety, than anything else." He elaborated on his worries "If the student's find out, if anyone finds out for that matter, I wouldn't know how to defend them. What would happen to them?"

"They'd be locked up in some government facility or other." She guessed "Or if they're lucky Segolia will be able to intervene."

"And Segolia will do what exactly?"

"Not my department," She shrugged her shoulders "but I can try my best to keep them safe."

"Whose department is it?" he sounded angry

"I don't know." She replied in the same tone "Probably your friend Victoria Sweeney."

"It's hardly going to be lucky for them, if she finds out." This time it was concern lacing his voice

"She's the head of security and she takes her job very seriously." She started telling him "She monitors everything and everyone in the building, every conversation, every transaction, every security camera. Nothing is secret from her. Absolutely nothing."

"I could tell that she loved me." He said sarcastically, trying to make light of his recent meeting with Victoria "A human finding out the secret."

"I don't know why, but she's fiercely protective of the secret."

"I noticed." He commented "Men in black chasing me through the woods of Stoneybridge."

"Henchman." She replied "Wolfblood and a little dangerous but nothing that can't be handled with a bit of cunning."

"Is that you saying, I'm not cunning enough to outwit some henchman?" he looked offended

"No, I was talking if you knew that they were Wolfblood's, then I'm sure you could have handled them," She paused for a moment "with your cunning."

"That sounded rather patronising, Dr Whitewood." He turned defensive

"You're not exactly known for your cunning though are you." she pointed out

"I know all about cunning, thank you."

"Tim, with all respect, you're a history teacher."

"Exactly I know all about battles and how they were won with cunning." He argued

"Yes but you're an open book."

"You know me well enough, to read me easily, though." He protested

"Still, cunning isn't what you're famous for." She repeated

"Rude!" he turned away and saw Shannon and Tom out of the corner of his eye

"They only care." Rebecca said "They're worried about you. You've hardly spoken to them and they need to know that you are alright."

"They don't need to worry." He sighed

"Through this conversation, I think that you've proved that to be false."

"It was just a little bit of a shock." He admitted "I went home and started on the whiskey."

"You hate whiskey." She exclaimed

"It was the first thing I could find and after a while you don't really notice the taste." He said miserably

"Come here," she put her arm around his shoulder, when she saw tears pricking in his eyes "Don't you dare go crying on me."

"Sorry." He sniffed in reply, as she handed him a tissue "Lot of stress recently."

"Bit of an understatement," She commented "but true."

"Liking the comfort I'm getting though."

"Don't you go soft on me though." She complained

"I wouldn't dare." He mumbled

There was a pause, and they both heard the noise of a motor not far away.

"What's that noise?" he asked and looked round

"It's your school," she shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to say "go find out."

"Bossy." He responded, standing up "I'm going."

Before he could do anything, Liam and Jimi cam speeding around the corner on a moped. Shannon and Tom followed after them, wanting to see if any progress had been made.

"Boys, what is this?!" Jeffries shouted over the sound of the engine "Liam, keys now!"

…

How did it go?" Shannon asked Rebecca, after Jeffries had taken Liam and his moped away

"Well he seems just to be stressed about the whole thing but I think you can rely on him to keep the secret safe." She confirmed

"That's great." Shannon sounded positive

"Hang on, you said stressed." Tom interrupted "How stressed exactly?"

"Enough to open a bottle of whiskey." Rebecca put them in picture

"That's not bad. Lots of people drink when they're stressed." Shannon tried to look on the bright side

"One thing you should know about your history teacher," Rebecca said quietly "he hates whiskey."

"He must have be desperate to forget then." Tom gave Shannon a poignant look

"He'll be absolutely fine. He's just shaken."

"I hope so." Jana appeared from behind them "How is Mr Jeffries?"

"He's not going to say anything is he?" Rhydian joined them

"He won't," Rebecca confirmed "he cares too much about you, to say anything."

"Really?" Jana looked surprised

"Yes, really. His main concern, is that you'll get discovered and that you'll get hurt. He cares more about your safety than anything else."

"Well that's good, isn't it? Tom looked concerned

"It's probably the best we're going to get for now." Rhydian finished

"I have to get back to work, just keep an eye on him and Shannon, you've got my number if you need anything."

…

He had confiscated Liam's bike keys and given him and Jimi a stern reminder of the school rules and what they said about mopeds. Liam had done a lot of shouting, saying that it was his bike and he could do what he wanted with it. Liam also now had detention. As the kids were in their lessons, he went out to see if he could find Rebecca. He saw her across the school grounds and called out.

"Leaving without saying goodbye."

"I'm afraid I have to get back to Segolia." She told him, after walking over "My morning off doesn't last forever."

"Shame."

"How are the kids going history lessons going to be today?" she asked "Still stumbling and awkward."

"How do you know about that?" he remembered back to yesterday, when every lesson he had taught was a group of mixed up nonsense that he had put together 10 minutes before the lesson actually began

"Do I need to remind you that Shannon has my number." She replied "She was worried, when her history lesson made very little sense and her normally competent history teacher became a bumbling fool, overnight."

"Ah." He said in response "Point made. I've had some time to plan today's lessons, so hopefully they'll be fine."

"Wonderful, I'm sure your students will actually learn something today." She smiled "Are you sure you're alright?" she then asked seriously

"Probably not but I'm sure that I'll get over it." he commented

"Well, if you need anything then you have my number," She reminded him "and this time, use it."

"See you later."

"And no more Whiskey either." She told him sternly "It evidently doesn't have a great effect on you."

"Anything else?" he asked, with a smirk

"Yes, stay out of trouble." She finished

 **The End**

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